Magdalene Perez, Staff Writer

Published 10:16 pm, Tuesday, June 1, 2010

STAMFORD -- A second city employee has filed an ethics complaint against Board of Finance Chairman Joe Tarzia and two other elected officials, alleging they led a "campaign of harassment and retaliation" for more than a year.

The charge came just three weeks after another city employee, human resources staff member Tania Barnes, filed a similar complaint against Tarzia after the Republican leader and Gabriele publicly accused Barnes of giving relatives special treatment in the city hiring process.

Kolenberg, who recently won the Republican Town Committee's nomination to run against Democrat Andrew McDonald for state Senate, called the latest accusations "complete fabrications and lies," saying Scacco's allegations are politically motivated and an attempt to deflect from the finance board's investigations into waste and mismanagement in the vehicle maintenance department.

Kolenberg said Tarzia, who did not return calls for comment Tuesday, was out of town.

According to the May 20 complaint, the alleged harassment began as a result of Scacco's attempts to discipline city equipment mechanic James Fasoli, whom Scacco claimed is a friend and political ally of Tarzia.

Fasoli was issued a five-day suspension following a disciplinary hearing in December, it claims. Scacco says Tarzia asked city Director of Operations Ernie Orgera to intervene to prevent Fasoli's termination. Later, Fasoli was transferred to the Scofieldtown yard, "in lieu of any punishment," the statement said.

The complaint said Tarzia and Gabriele had began a campaign of "constant and relentless" harassment against Scacco since Fasoli's first disciplinary write-up in February 2008. The alleged harassment included a referral for criminal investigation by the FBI, a request for Scacco's personnel file, mileage reports and attendance records, and requests for information pertaining to vehicle purchases, use of the vehicle maintenance facility, among other inquiries.

Scacco further claims Tarzia and Gabriele began making inquiries about the purchase of a group of used plow trucks after Fasoli requested "a detailed list of questions" concerning them during one of his pre-disciplinary hearings, with the intent of using the information in his defense. Scacco states Tarzia and Gabriele's requests were "menacing in tone" and suggested the information requested would lead to his termination.

Finally, the complaint alleges Kolenberg pushed for privatization of the city's vehicle maintenance work for his own benefit. According to it, Tarzia and Kolenberg visited the Magee Avenue vehicle maintenance facility late last year. In November, Kolenberg began sending requests for information about the building's size, number of employees, and capabilities. According to the complaint, Tarzia and Kolenberg said they intended to close the facility and privately contract the work, with Kolenberg later indicating "he saw a business opportunity for himself and his partners."

Scacco, reached Tuesday, said it was inappropriate to comment.

Kolenberg, the founder and former chief executive officer of CorporateCars.com, a business that remarkets off-lease vehicles, said his inquiries about the vehicle maintenance facility were at the request of Mayor Michael Pavia and that his recommendation to privatize the operation was due to its inefficiencies. He said insinuation that he acted in self-interest are off-base, especially because he had been in negotiations to sell the CorporateCars company since last year.

"I'm not even in the car business anymore," Kolenberg said. "There's going to be a libel suit against this because that's patently false."

Gabriele called the complaint's allegations "totally false," and said he was eager to appear before the Board of Ethics because the statements would not hold up under scrutiny. Though Gabriele acknowledged making inquiries regarding the plows, he said he made the requests because it had come to his attention the vehicles were not being utilized.

Gabriele said it was suspicious that Scacco's complaint was similar to that filed by Barnes last month.

The Barnes statement alleged Tarzia had led a "campaign of retaliation and harassment" against her because she failed to give special treatment to Tony Vaccaro, a heavy equipment operator who was subject to an unpaid suspension after a disciplinary hearing in March.

Staff Writer Magdalene Perez can be reached at 203-964-2240 or magdalene.perez@scni.com.